In my campaign announcement I talked about the concept of staying out of the stinkweed and staying on track toward achieving our objectives as a city. It means that I hope to not invest either your time or mine looking backward or trying to assign blame for previous decisions or results. I remain committed to that objective.
It has been fascinating to observe how constituents make decisions about candidates and issues, and how perception can become reality. To encourage perceptions to be as accurate as possible, I’d like to share with you some of the things I’ve observed during this campaign.
I have a cordial working relationship with current members of the City Council and staff. In fact, I was asked to run for office by two councilmembers who are dedicated members of different political parties. A few people expressed the opinion, “Well, I can’t support you if HE supports you”, and others have expressed the same opinion but in reverse.
While I suppose it is natural to want to apply party labels to candidates, I have a track record working with people across a wide spectrum to solve problems. I’ve served in fields that many consider conservative (the military and real estate), and I’ve served with Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Adam Smith. Senator Moynihan offered the tremendous and coveted opportunity to be an Intern in Washington DC while I was in college on an ROTC Scholarship and studying political science and criminal justice. Congressman Smith currently represents the Tacoma area and his office asked me to sit on his technology advisory council, which I enjoy because I get to interact with leaders in both politics and technology. I’ve enjoyed my brief time working with city staff as a new member of the Economic Development Commission, which is a volunteer position. I am ready willing and able to work with those in a position to help our community, regardless of the labels that have been applied to them. That’s how problems get solved.
As a father and husband my top priority is public safety for my family and my neighbors. As a business owner I am fiscally conservative, and I would like to see a political environment that maximizes the chance for existing businesses to thrive and for new businesses to want to come to UP. We chose to live here and work here, and we are fortunate to call University Place our home.
City Council is a non-partisan office, and the organization works best if a group of strong leaders with conviction, energy and ideas understand the objective and work toward a common goal. I am a problem solver, and I hope you will support me in November."
